Scientists have created a bone-like material that is less dense than WATER and as strong as STEEL.

Jens Bauer, from the Karlsruher Institute of Technology (KIT) and his team have manipulated materials at the atomic level to create new substances.

The compound that has been developed at the German institute can carry a heavy load despite being almost weightless.

Bauer said: "This is the first experimental proof that such materials can exist."

A company called Nanoscribe, who specialise in 3D laser Lithography, a method of printing based on the principle that oil and water do not mix, provided Bauer with the tools he needed to for his ground-breaking invention.

A drop of honey-like polymer was placed on a glass slide and the laser switched on.

The beam then moves with the aid of a computer-system to focus on areas where the material is to be made solid.

Once the process has finished, and excess residue washed away, materials with intricate internal structures are left behind.

Bauer found the new material was not as strong as he wanted so they were coated with a thin layer of alumnia.

However, for the strong and light structures to be used in real life new technology needs to be developed because onjects can only be made at tens of micrometres in size.

The scientist said: "One of their newer machines can make materials in the millimetre-range, but that's about it for now."

However, Bauer's research has excited the scientific community making advancements in the 21st century being called the "molecular age".

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.